Last week the Afghan parliament — with the support of 60 votes from women members– voted down President Hamid Karzai’s 2009 presidential decree on the Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW). Invest in Muslim Women’s NGO partner in Kabul,

Jamila Afghani, Executive Director of Noor Educational and Capacity Development Organization (NECDO), parsed this staggering fact for me: “The Afghani women parliamentarians represent different political parties and they do not believe in women’s rights. They are beholden to male legislators and follow their mandates.”

Fawzia Kofi, an activist and champion of women’s rights fears worse reversals of women’s rights from legislators aligned with hard core religious parties in the future with Karzai’s decrees being law. A winning vote would have protected women from future abuses.